Keeping an eye on the market over the last year may have given you a bad case of emotional whiplash, with its apparent moves from one extreme to the other. It is easy to get swept up in the euphoria of a bull market as market levels rise, and then succumb to the deep pessimism of a bear market as the bottom apparently drops out of the market. However, markets rarely stay at historical extremes; eventually, they move back toward normal levels, although the speed of this adjustment is far from certain. The big question is: What is a normal level?

AAII is a nonprofit organization that arms individual investors with the education and tools they need to build wealth. From stock investing to financial planning and retirement funding, AAII covers all your needs.